La Liga’s two most in-form team will meet this Friday at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez as high flying Sevilla hosts league leaders Barcelona.
The high flying Sevilla who are on course for a top-three finish will look to pick all three points in this tie and put a dent on Barca’s title hopes. Fresh from a disappointing 1:1 draw with Levante, Julian Lopetgui’s side will hope to bounce back and put their quest for Champions-League football back on track.
Barca meanwhile return to action after brushing aside Leganes in their last outing. The league leaders will be looking to take home all three points and extend their winning run in the league to four games. Messi and co. are will be looking to avoid an upset as they seek to wrap up their fourth La Liga title in five years.
Team News
Julian Lopetgui has no players on the treatment table and will be expected to start his strongest starting eleven for this tie.
With Luiz Suarez gradually returning to fitness, Setien is expected to stick with Antonio Griezmann in the attack. Meanwhile, Gerard Pique is an injury doubt for this tie as the defender continues to nurse a knock.
Head to head
The last five league meetings between both teams have seen Barcelona win four times with a goal ratio of 16:7. In fact, Barca has scored four times in all three of their last league meetings.
Team Form
Sevilla last five games in all competition: DWDWD
Barca last five games in all competition: WWWLD
Betting Preview
The battle between third and first promises to be an intriguing one with Sevilla set to trouble this brilliant Barca side.
The hosts head into this tie with a win percentage of 50% from their last six matches. They, however, have not lost a match in that period with the other games ending in a draw.
Meanwhile, Sevilla have become somewhat of an unlucky team at home recently. Their last six home games has seen them win three and draw three times despite scoring first in those three draws.
Although Sevilla can take pride in the fact that they have conceded an average of 0.93 goals in those six home games, Barca can also boast of scoring ten times in their last six away league games.
However, this does not mean much wins for the league leaders as they have seen only two of those away games end in a win (D2, L2).
The visitors are heading into this tie with their last three games, all ending in wins. Also, five of their last league games has seen only one team score.
The table-toppers tend to concede first in away games with their opponents scoring first in five of their last six away games in the league. However, they possess a league-high average of 1.0 points salvaged after conceding the opener away from home (W2, D3, L4).
Their away record for the season stand at W6, D3, and L5, making them the third-best away side in the league this season.
Suggested Bets
Both teams to score/Yes @ 8/15
Over 2.5 Goals @ 8/13
Barcelona to win both Half @ 21/10
